Seattle, Washington, founded along Elliott Bay in 1851, has a paranormal history that is rooted in the city's frontier era, the 1889 Great Seattle Fire & the underground passageways left behind when downtown streets were raised after the fire, and maritime disasters, as well as indigenous Duwamish tradition. Local legends describe ghostly figures, unexplained footsteps, phantom sailors, and spirits connected to Seattle's early boomtown years. The combination of Gold Rush history, waterfront tragedies, historic hotels, and preserved nineteenth-century buildings has made Seattle one of the Pacific Northwest's most famous paranormal destinations.